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List of compatible Mac Pro DVD drives?

S

speekez

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 19, 2003
350
2
Is there a list somewhere (perhaps on Apple's site) that documents which DVD drives will work in the Mac Pro.

I have a Pioneer DVR-A07/DVR-107 that I am considering moving from my old computer to the Mac Pro. Just wondering if it will work.
 
speekez said:
Is there a list somewhere (perhaps on Apple's site) that documents which DVD drives will work in the Mac Pro.

I have a Pioneer DVR-A07/DVR-107 that I am considering moving from my old computer to the Mac Pro. Just wondering if it will work.
Click to expand...

Most drives should work I think. I have a thread entilted "Mac Pro Help ASAP" because I'm trying to put my old G4 optical drive in my new Mac Pro and I am having some problems with the jumpers apparently.

Most optical drives should work though.
 
I say that 100% of all DVD drives will work on the Mac Pro. Ive bought 2 dvd burners for my G4 power mac (i know not a mac pro, but should make no diffence) without ever checking for Mac compatibility. The only problem i see is that Itunes/OSX may not nativly burn with some drives. But the HP (was a random purchase for dvd-ram usage) and Sony work fine in itunes. Plus there are 3rd party drivers for odd ball drives. I had to use that for my sony untill apple officially supported it in a software update. I also use toast to burn 99% of all my stuff and that works with every oddball drive ive used. I say just buy any drive that you find that fits your needs, I see no issues.
 
1 other issue to consider, especially if you will have only 1 optical drive, is whether the drive you buy/install will allow you to boot your mac from a cd/dvd if needed.........like for installing/re-installing the OS or crash recovery from a back up disk :D

granted most drives that are burn-supported will also be bootable, but I have ran across a few in the past that were not, even 1 or 2 models from Sony & Pioneer......

As OSX continues to mature in the driver/support arena, this is becoming less & less of a problem, but there are never any guarantees, considering the huge variety of drives/mfgr's/quality levels available nowadays !
 
thanks guys! I guess I really have nothing to lose but to try it in the Mac Pro. I already own the drive... and rather than selling it at a loss, I should put it to use. It might come in handy on those occasions I want to copy a DVD without first copying it to the hard drive. I do know that when installed in my G3, the DVR-107 worked well with Toast and Itunes, and was also bootable.

Since the Mac Pro is new, I think I'll let it run a couple weeks and make sure there are no bugs. I'll also put the stock optical drive through some burn tests and try booting from it, just to make sure it is in working order. That way, if I install the DVR-107 and I start to have issues with the original drive, I can conclude it was probably my doing.
 
lostless said:
I say that 100% of all DVD drives will work on the Mac Pro.
Click to expand...

I say that is not 100% accurate and here is why - the tray on some DVD drive models is not in exactly the same place as it is on the original one. You are right that the drives will work in terms of the OS recognising and controlling them, but physically there are problems. I have tried two different drives (Lite-on and philips) but neither of them open properly. They start to open and then get stuck because the tray is not correctly aligned with the slot aperture. If you can put up with having to grab the tray and pull it out, and push it back in again after you have put a disc in then I suppose most drives will work. It would be great to find one which fits exactly so I can get that nice smooth action when it opens and closes

Cheers
Bob
 
BobMcFish said:
I say that is not 100% accurate and here is why - the tray on some DVD drive models is not in exactly the same place as it is on the original one. You are right that the drives will work in terms of the OS recognising and controlling them, but physically there are problems. I have tried two different drives (Lite-on and philips) but neither of them open properly. They start to open and then get stuck because the tray is not correctly aligned with the slot aperture. If you can put up with having to grab the tray and pull it out, and push it back in again after you have put a disc in then I suppose most drives will work. It would be great to find one which fits exactly so I can get that nice smooth action when it opens and closes

Cheers
Bob
Click to expand...

You pop off the front cover, they all fit.
 
Yep most should work fine. Bought one from Best Buy and it works like a charm.

It was a LG Blu-ray writer.
 
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